Not What it Seems
by Libstar
Summary: Reply to a prompt from tumblr: Miranda and the girls get jealous when a pregnant 18 year old who looks like she has been in an MMA fight and her three year old show up claiming they know Andrea. Its her younger sister and she needs Andrea's help. Rated M for future chapters.
1. Chapter 1

This is a reply to a prompt I received on tumblr and what I originally planned to be something short has kind of run away with me. Usual disclaimers apply and as usual I hope you enjoy.

The prompt: Miranda and the kids get jealous when a pregnant 18 year old who looks like she has been in an MMA fight and her 3 year old show up claiming she knows Andrea. It's Andy's baby sister and she needs Andy's help.

I've twisted the prompt slightly to fit my ideas, I've taken some liberties with Miranda's behavior but I'm a firm believer that if you care deeply for someone the way you react in regards to them is likely to go completely against the way you would react to anyone else. Rated M for the possibility of later.

* * *

Miranda had had too long to stew in her anger, she knew that and the girls knew that. Andrea had stood them up, no phone call, not even a text and the editor had had the entire show to build up steam. It was supposed to have been their first family outing since hers and Andrea's relationship had become public and the media storm that had followed had settled down so that they could actually venture out without being hounded by paparazzi but Andrea just hadn't shown. It seemed that maybe Andrea was turning out to be just like the others and in record time too, she had even beaten Stephen to it and he had only managed to remain dependable for about five minutes after they married.

Cassidy knew the minute her mother had directed Roy to take them to Andy's place instead of the townhouse that she should try and do something to change her mind or at least distract her from the anger that was practically radiating off her in waves. She had never known her mom react so explosively to anyone the way she reacted to Andrea. When things were good it was amazing, her mom laughed and smiled more, even when Andrea wasn't there, but if something went wrong? One of two things would happen, you would either be able to hear her shouting on the other side of the townhouse or she would appear hours later her eyes red, her face blotchy like she had been crying, neither were things that Cassidy ever expected from her mom but Andy had changed a lot of things. Today was a screaming day though, Cassidy could see it in the set of her mom's shoulders and the way she had fidgeted her way through the entire show. It had been two years since Andy had reappeared and this would, by no means, be the first or last fight that the two women had but Cassidy had to wonder at what point her mom would go to far and Andy would just walk away again.

Caroline wasn't like her sister, she had no desire to distract her mom from whatever fit she was winding herself into, nor did she particularly care that Andy was going to be on the receiving end of it. It was always the same when their mom met someone new although Andy had been more genuine in her desire to get to know the twins too and didn't just fake it for Miranda's sake Caroline wasn't surprised that she was obviously loosing interest. It always happened eventually, just when Caroline was getting used to having a new person around, of sharing her sister and her mom with someone new, they started getting bored, they started missing dinners and family outings and eventually they vanished. She had really hoped that Andy was different, she'd actually liked her and Andy had helped her with her school work, encouraged her to pursue her writing, she'd made her mom happy too and even when they argued the brunette had been active in fixing things, but if Andy was already standing them up it was only a matter of time before she vanished altogether. Caroline was beginning to think that maybe there was some kind of curse on all of them that made them impossible to love. What she would never know was that her mother, for a long time, had believed exactly them same thing.


	2. Chapter 2

As the car pulled up outside Andrea's apartment Miranda briefly questioned why she was reacting so explosively to being stood up by the younger woman. With anyone else she would have shrugged it off and enjoyed the evening with her girls, but Andrea, Andrea had always managed to pull an extreme reaction from her. It had taken her a very long time to realise that what was different with Andrea was the strength and depth of her feelings.

Instructing the twins to wait in the car she swept into the building and straight for the elevator. Out of character for the fashion maven Miranda hadn't planned much past this point, only knowing she was furious and allowing her anger rather than her reason to guide her. It was her anger that led her to let herself into the apartment with her key instead of knocking and anger which led to what happened next.

Andy woke with a start when her front door made sharp contact with the wall and tried to process what was happening while trying to wrestle herself from underneath the dead weight of Jill.

"What the hell?" she questioned catching sight of platinum hair

"Quite," Andrea shivered at the ice in Miranda's voice, "I'll leave my key Andrea, I trust that you will have the sense not to use mine again." she heard the key hit the side table and the door slam before he could manage to reply never mind move. It was the second bang that woke Jill and as the other woman began to move Andrea became aware of exactly what Miranda thought she had walked in on. Jill's face was buried in her neck, her hand was clutched at the front of her shirt, the brunette could imagine that from Miranda's perspective it probably looked very intimate.

"Shit shit shit!"

"What was that?" Jill asked, pushing herself up so she could look at Andy who tried not to flinch again at the bruises on the girls face,

"That was Miranda," she said, pushing herself upright when she heard bare feet on the wooden floor, "Hey sweety are you ok?"

"Heard a noise," Evie mumbled, rubbing at her eyes, it was almost enough to make Andrea forget the trouble she was obviously in with Miranda, turning to regard her sister as Evie climbed up onto her knee she noticed that she looked nervous and given the state she was in Andrea couldn't blame her,

"Who wants pizza?" she asked instead, she'd deal with Miranda in a second but first she needed to make sure her little sister felt safe.

Miranda allowed the anger to carry her back to the Townhouse and through getting the girls to bed. It peaked momentarily when she checked her phone and found it full of missed calls from the brunette. But the longer she sat alone in her study, thinking, the further the anger moved away to be replaced with hopelessness. The room was full of reminders of the brunette and in Miranda's view, the permanent place she had taken in the lives of all of the Priestly women. Yet again Miranda found herself faced with very uncomfortable truth; there was something about her that was fundamentally unloveable.

Both girls were in the dark. They knew their mother was furious, they knew she had barely spent five minutes in Andrea's apartment building and they knew she had barely spoken since she had gotten back in the car. They couldn't even guess though what had actually transpired that afternoon and they both knew that they would probably never find out, they would just be expected to pick up the pieces.

Caroline wasn't surprised that when she got up at around 1am for a drink (and honestly a snack), the light was still on in her mom's study. The Book had been waiting on the hall table when they had gotten home and it wouldn't be the first time that Miranda had stayed up late into the night editing it, not by a long shot. What did surprise the girl though was that her moms usually silent work was tonight accompanied by music and Caroline knew for a fact it was one of Andrea's CD's. A silent look through the crack in the door showed her mom curled up in her armchair wrapped in the blanket that Andrea kept in the study for the nights she would try and stay up with the editor only to fall asleep on the sofa, a tumbler of whiskey was clutched in her hand and the book was lying unopened on her lap. It seemed to Caroline that she was the only one sensible enough not to fall for Andrea's syrupy smiles and large brown eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

After a night without sleep and more calls sent straight to voice mail than she could count Andrea was at a loss. She'd given Jill and Evie her bed and spent the night staring at her living room ceiling trying to work out what the hell to do but by 6am she was still no further forward. She knew better than most that once Miranda had something in her head it was almost impossible to change her mind, maybe a run would help.

She shouldn't have been surprised that her run ended at Miranda's front door or that the older woman's key was in her pocket of her shorts. Miranda's warning from the previous night gave her minute pause but it was far outweighed by the knowledge that she needs to talk to Miranda and make this right. A night spent knowing that Miranda is hurting, because she knows the anger she saw was just the tip of the iceberg, caused a physical ache and she knows that she needs to at least try to fix it.

Pushing into the townhouse she was surprised to find a light on in the kitchen and that she could hear the twins chatting, it was before eight on a saturday and normally that would mean the girls would still be in bed, it would normally mean that she and Miranda would still be in bed. Deciding that talking to the girls was as good a place to start as any and that it was a good way to gauge how their mom had been she headed in that direction.

'Hey guys," she said gently, hanging back at the door. She knew that the twins must have been with Miranda when she turned up at the apartment the previous evening but other than that she had no idea what they knew or what they thought they knew. The way each girl reacted told her everything she needed to know. Cassidy smiled but Andrea could see the uncertainty behind it, Caroline however, in true mini Miranda style, pursed her lips and raised an eyebrow over her mug,

"Where were you last night?" the slightly elder twin groused,

"Something really important came up and I completely lost track of time, I'm really sorry."

"You didn't even call," Cassidy mumbled and it made Andrea hate herself even more for letting the girls down.

"Girls, go to your rooms." Andrea's eyes snapped to the back staircase where Miranda had silently appeared and she was floored by the emotions swimming in ice blue eyes. She didn't take her eyes off the other woman as she listened to the girls shuffle out of the room, Miranda looked exhausted, her face was free of make up and her eyes were bloodshot and all Andrea wanted to do was pull her into her arms and never let her go.

"I thought I asked you to stay away." the older woman said once the twins were definitely out of earshot.

"You did," Andrea said carefully, taking several steps into the room"But that's because you think you walked in on something last night but it really wasn't what it looked like."

"I know what I saw Andrea."

"I know what I think you saw Miranda but I swear it wasn't what it looked like" Andrea took another step towards the white haired woman but stopped herself from reaching out like she wanted to.

"I knew really," Miranda said quietly setting about making herself coffee just to keep her hands occupied and her eyes off the brunette. She wanted to ignore that Andrea looked as awful as she felt and she knew that as soon as she looked into her eyes she would begin to fall into them, "I knew that eventually this would happen, that I would become boring or my age would become an issue, that you would realised that you could do so much better than me. But I had hoped, by God I had hoped."

"Miranda please," Andrea whispered, stepping right int the other woman's personal space, tears burning in her eyes at her admission, "Miranda I lo..."

"Don't," Miranda looked up into Andrea's eyes and the pain staring back at he broke the brunettes heart, "I would like you to go, and leave my key this time."


	4. Chapter 4

So this morning I realised I left the last part unfinished, so here is what should have happened directly following that scene.

This story continues to have a mind of its own, I find myself wanting to scream at the Miranda I have written and give her a shake for good measure but this version of the woman just keeps on coming. I'm going to be in London this weekend for my partners birthday so I can't promise an update though the next part is written so I might get the chance to type it on the train this afternoon. Thank you for the continued lovely reviews, follows and favs, they give me the confidence to keep writing for you guys xx

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"Miranda, she's my sister." Andrea grabbed the other woman's wrist as she tried to walk away, knowing that if she let it happen again things would never get fixed, pulling her back into her body and wrapping her arms around her waist, the hold wasn't tight, the older woman could step out of it easily if she wanted to but it was enough to keep her still, "She's my sister Miranda," she repeated against her ear.

"Don't treat me like a fool Andrea, I know for a fine fact that you don't have a sister." she resisted the hold the brunette had on her but only a little, she was exhausted and against all of her better judgement she simply wanted to accept Andrea's explanation and sink into her arms,

"I do Miranda, please. Can we at least go sit somewhere and talk about this?" When the white haired woman gave a nod Andrea relaxed her grip but did not let go altogether, forcing Miranda to be the one who broke contact, she did but it was slow and Andrea picked up the uncertainty in her movements, it made her heart clench painfully. She watched Miranda resume her coffee making, pulling another mug down from the cupboard, the almost robotic movements gave nothing of the editors on emotions away. Andrea could only hope that she could get through to the older woman.

"I hope she is telling her to get lost," Caroline huffed, throwing herself onto Cassidy's bed as she followed her twin into her room.

"We don't even know what happened Carp and she said she was sorry. I thought you liked Andy."

"What's the point in liking any of them?" Caroline sighed, "it all ends the same way."

"I thought Andy was different, she makes mom happy, like really happy."

"Yeah well." Caroline shrugged and rolled onto her stomach, "you need to learn that we can't rely on anyone. The three of us just have to look after each other."

Cassidy, always wanting to protect her twin and be seen to agree with her was silent after that but she mulled over what her sister had said. Cassidy knew she had always been more trusting than her sister but she really had thought that Caroline actually liked Andy, the smiles and laughs she shared with the brunette were more genuine than any she had shared with Stephen and even their father really, Caroline had even trusted the other woman with some if her writing samples, something not even Cassidy or their mother had been able to see. She understood that seeing their mom hurt hurt them too but she worried that her sister was getting an unrealistic view of what relationships were actually like. They tended to have the same friends and Cassidy had noticed before that it seemed to be her who was left to make the first move when it came to anyone New and Caroline had always taken a little longer to warm up to them. She hoped that Andy and her mom could sort whatever this was out, not just because she wanted her mom to be happy, though that was a big part of it, but also because maybe it would help Caroline realise that they could rely on other people.


	5. Chapter 5

Andrea followed Miranda into the downstairs sitting room where the editor used to wait for the book and tried not to be disheartened by the formal setting. She was lucky that Miranda was listening to her at all.

"Come on then," Miranda muttered once she had gotten herself comfortable in her usual armchair. She turned her body towards Andrea but studiously avoided her eyes, choosing instead to stare a hole in the wall above her head.

"Everything with Jill has ways been complicated." Andrea began, staring steadfastly at the side of Miranda's head, "she ran away when she was 13, it was a year before we heard anything from her and after that all we got was a postcard to say that she was ok, that she was happy. I was already away at college when it happened but just the way that my parents acted when I spoke to them told me exactly what affect it was having. We'd never really gotten on, and the way she behaved didn't improve that. When she turned up again she was pregnant, she couldn't afford the medical bills, didn't have insurance and the father wasn't interested, my parents welcomed her back with open arms, the prodigal daughter returned. She disappeared again not long after Evie was born, took most of what my parents had. I met my niece for the first time yesterday, she's three years old and she had no idea who I was."

"Two years together and you never mentioned a sister, why should I start believing you now?" If Miranda really thought about it, if she took the time to study Andrea's face she would have known there was no lie there, but she was wearing the anger from the previous night like armour because if she was angry she couldn't be hurt.

"Miranda please, I never talk about Jill, not even Nate knew she existed, it's not something I ever thought was important, hell, I never expected to see her again. Like I said, we never got on, we weren't close like Caro and Cass, we never understood each other and we never tried to." Andrea could feel tears burning the backs of her eyes, the last 24 hours had been an emotional rollercoaster and all she wanted was for Miranda to be a little understanding, instead she was getting a mixture of hurt and anger from the older woman, neither if which were making her feel any better.

"And you let people you aren't close to to practically drape themselves all over you? Should I expect to come home next week to find you cuddled up with the mail man? How is it that this so called sister of yours came upon your address anyway? You've moved since you moved to New York. Since you claimed you last saw her." Andrea wanted to scream, she didn't know where to begin with answering any of the older woman's questions because she honestly couldn't believe she was being asked them. She had known that getting into a relationship with Miranda that the woman could be downright unreasonable at times, if she had learnt anything from her time at runway it was that, but as they had gotten to know each other away from their work relationship and what they shared morphed from friends to more than that Andrea had seen a completely new side to the so called Dragon, one that she could do with seeing before she completely broke down.

"I'm a journalist Miranda, my name appears in print everyday so it would be easy enough to find out I was still in the city. As for my address, it's probably on public record or something."

"That still doesn't explain why you had strapped all over you."

"She was upset Miranda and regardless of what has happened in the past I wasn't going leave her to sit there and break her heart." _Not like you. _


	6. Chapter 6

So I pretty much hate this part but every time I try to rewrite it the same thing comes out, I just feel like Miranda changes her mind a little too quickly but I don't know, I guess when the fight finally drains out of you it goes all at once. Hopefully the next part will come more quickly and less painfully. Thank you again for all the reviews, favs and reviews. They mean the world xx

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Miranda needed to get up and walk around, all of the emotions swimming in her system were making her feel fidgety and one thing Miranda Priestly did not do was fidget. Pushing herself up she moved over to the window over looking the street, wrapping her arms across her stomach and digging her nails into her sides trying to ground herself. Andrea had no reason to lie to her, never mind to make up an elaborate story when if something had happened all of the evidence was there for the taking, she had after all seen it with her own eyes. Despite knowing this and, more importantly, trusting Andrea there was still a small part of her that couldn't understand how, in the two years they had been together, a sister had never come up in conversation, and if Andrea hadn't told her then what else was the brunette hiding from her? Still, the sight of Andrea beneath another, no matter how innocent, would be forever burnt into her memory as one of the most painful moments of her life. She had thought that catching Stephen with his secretary in her home office had been bad but it was a paper cut compared to this. Andrea had proven over the years to be different in every single way to every man that Miranda had dated or married. She understood Miranda and her work ethic more than any other person and she didn't just understand it, she accepted it and didn't try to change it, she wasn't reproachful when Miranda was late for dinner or missed it altogether, though those instances had been very few since their relationship had started because Miranda had found that she actually wanted to come home and spend time with the younger woman and the girls. The townhouse was a happy place again, filled with fun and laughter, something it had not been since the twins were babies and Miranda knew she had Andrea to thank for that. But she was always worried that one day Andrea would realize that she was getting a raw deal and the thought that that fear had been realized knocked her sick. Andrea, she supposed, had never come out and said that she wasn't an only child, Miranda had just assumed when no mention of siblings was forthcoming but it wasn't like they hadn't talked about their families, Miranda had told the younger woman the most painful parts of her past, the things she hadn't shared with anyone and maybe that was what the real problem was now that she had gotten to the bottom of what exactly had been going on. Maybe what it all came down to was that she had trusted Andrea with the worst parts of herself but for whatever reason Andrea hadn't felt she could trust Miranda with this and if there was no trust where did that leave them?

"Is it that you didn't think you could trust me?" she said quietly, her eyes still trained outside the window, she heard Andrea's sharp intake of breath and her heart clenched. Andrea dropped her head into her hands and rubbed at her eyes, lack of sleep and being close to tears on and off for twenty four hours had left them feeling gritty and sore. She hated that Miranda felt this was a trust issue, she would trust the older woman with her life and she didn't know how to explain that not telling her about Jill had nothing to do with a lack of trust and everything to do with Andrea not feeling that it was important. She could see where the older woman was coming from, if one of Miranda's siblings had appeared out of the blue one day, a sibling she had no knowledge of, she would be suspicious and upset too, she'd probably question how much the other woman trusted her.

"Miranda I trust you wholeheartedly I thought you knew that," she said carefully, pushing herself up and moving to stand as close to the older woman as she could without touching her, she could see that Miranda was still strung tight and she fought against the strong urge to reach out and run a soothing hand over her shoulders and down her back,

"I thought I knew that too," Miranda breathed out, "But this, I don't know what to think about this. There is a part of me that would rather have found that you had in fact been conducting a relationship with that girl, I'm not sure how to reconcile you keeping something so big from me and us moving forward."

"Miranda please," Andrea went against her instincts and reached out, smoothing her hands over Miranda's which were bunched tightly in her jumper and quite possibly her skin, she was gratified that they relaxed minutely and the older woman's shoulders sagged slightly. "I wish that Jill had crossed my mind at any point in the last two years because if she had you would have known about her but Miranda, you have to understand, I spent most of my adult life just not talking about her, the second time she ran away my parents got rid of everything that was hers from the house, all of the photographs all of the stuff from her old room, was split between a fire in the yard and the local thrift stores. I came back from college one break and it was like she had never existed. We never talked about her again after that. I didn't consciously keep her from you, I wish I could prove it to you."

"You understand why I am so perturbed by this though don't you?" Miranda could hear the sincerity in the younger woman's voice and couldn't deny that she believed her now, she also couldn't help thinking that she may have come across as a crazy old woman in the last hour or so,

"Of course I do Miranda," Andrea said gently, slipping her arms around the older woman and pulling her close, "I'm sure I would be the same if our roles were reversed, anything you need me to do to make this right I'll do it. Just name it Miranda."

"I'd like to meet her, and your niece," Miranda said, turning in the younger woman's arms and resting her head on her shoulder, it felt good to finally be able to relax against Andrea as her body let go of all of the tension it had been holding since the previous evening, "and I'd like to arrange for somewhere for her to stay, I don't like the idea of her staying at your apartment and you not knowing when she might disappear and what she might take." the more she thought about it the more she hated the idea of Andrea's kindness being misused, "and I don't want to hear any arguments."

"It's not like I have anything worth stealing," Andrea murmured, pressing a kiss to Miranda's head, "All of the things that mean anything at all to me are here. Is this going to be one of those occasions you use to remind me again that I am too nice?"

"It is," Miranda nodded, squeezing her middle, "But also know it is not a characteristic I wish you to change, I only wish for you to be more careful with yourself, who knows what could have happened when you invited your sister into your home last night. You could have woken up this morning to find everything gone, her violent boyfriend could have followed her," Miranda shuddered at the thought, "You're very important to me Andrea and to a host of others, don't underestimate how many people would be effected if something happened to you."

"I know and I'm sorry, for all of this. Do the twins hate me? I was really looking forward to that show last night."

"The twins will come round, they always do. It was a fantastic show, I'm sure the girls would be happy to attend again if you would still like to see it."

"I would, with all three of you. I'm sorry Miranda."

"I'm sorry too darling," Andrea fully relaxed the minute the pet name left the other woman's mouth, if she was back to being 'darling' then things truly would be alright, she wasn't as sure about the twins though, especially Caroline, "For jumping to conclusions and for not waiting around to listen."

"I think I would have reacted in the same way, either that or yelled, or thrown something, you showed incredible restraint." she chuckled lightly, "I didn't even see you breathe any fire!"


	7. Chapter 7

Andrea woke with a start from a nap that she hadn't planned and winced as her neck and shoulders protested at the position they had been held in. They had moved to the couch when the tension had leached out of both of them. Andrea had sat with her back against he arm of the chair and pulled Miranda between her legs , cradling her against her body. As the anger and tension had left her it had been replaced with exhaustion and Andrea had urged her to rest for a moment. Andrea hadn't planned on staying for long but obviously her own exhaustion had caught up with her too and she had no idea how much time had passed.

"Miranda," she said, gently brushing her fingers through the older woman's hair, "Miranda honey, wake up." the other woman stired slightly, pressing her face into Andrea's neck and sighing contentedly before seemingly falling back into a deep sleep. Andrea chuckled and pressed a kiss to the snowy white head, if only PageSix could see their Ice Queen like this they would have a fit, but Andrea loved that she didn't have to share this side of Miranda with anyone.

"Mira'" she singsonged, walking the fingers of one hand over her shoulder and down her side, "Time to wake up."

"No," Miranda groaned, knocking the tickling digits away from her sideand pulling the arm back around herself, "Hold still Andrea."

"I need to go home," Andrea sighed, kissing the head resting on her chest again, "I've left Jill alone for too long and you need to spend some time with the girls before James picks them up."

"Must you be right all of the time?"he grumbled pushing herself upright, she hated to admit that she felt better for the small amount of sleep, "What are your plans for the rest of the day?" they had planned on spending the time that the girls were with their father together and Miranda had planned that they wouldn't spend much of that time outside of the bedroom but the arrival of Jill meant that those plans would have to be saved for another day.

"I don't know," Andrea shrugged and rubbed at her eyes "I need to talk to Jill, find out what's been going on with her for the last few years."

"Let me bring dinner tonight?"

"I'd love that, I know you had plans for us tonight, I'm sorry."

"We'll just have to make the most of it. I have some work to do on the Book once James picks the girls up but it wont take long, I'll pick dinner up on my way." Miranda pushed herself to her feet and held out her hand to pull Andrea up and into another embrace, "Don't let her take advantage of you darling."

"I wont," Andrea pressed a lingering kiss to Miranda's mouth and smiled, "Tell the girls we will do something when they get back from their dads and I'll see you later."

* * *

"Andy just left," Cassidy said, dropping the cookies she had stolen from the kitchen onto the bed beside her sister, "They hugged before she left so I guess everything is ok."

"Until next time," Caroline said, not looking up from her magazine, "I wouldn't get too excited Cass, it always ends the same."

"Why do you always have to be so negative about everything Caro, I know you like Andy really. You're so like mom sometimes"

"Oh shut up Cass, I'm just being a realist, the only person you can trust is you and the sooner you realise that the better."

Cassidy didn't know what to say to that so she stayed quiet, snagging a cookie she settled in with her book. She did understand why Caroline had trouble trusting people their mum brought into their lives but even when Andy had just been their moms assistant, even after they talked the brunette into delivering the book upstairs and got her into trouble, she had been nice to them and taken a couple of minutes to stop and chat with them if their mom was out late working.

She remembered what it had been like when their mom had returned from Paris without Stephen (no loss) but without Andrea too. Everything had changed after that, most of it was good, they did more as a family, their mom was home most nights in time for dinner but, although their mom smiled and laughed, the smiles never quite reached her eyes and the sound was hollow. It wasn't until Andrea reappeared, quite unexpectedly, that things changed and the smiles were brighter, the laugh more genuine. Andrea made them all, even Caroline, happy and Cassidy, who believed in true love and soul mates, believed wholeheartedly that their mom had finally found hers.


	8. Chapter 8

You all might as well know that I pretty much hate this part but it's a necessary link to what is to come so there you go. The next part is pretty much written so hopefully it will be up soon. Thanks for the continued support, you guys literally keep me going. Xx

* * *

Feeling muzzy from her unexpected nap and he earlier run Andrea opted to catch a cab back across town rather than running back. Stopping at the corner market to grab some things she was surprised to find that only three hours had passed since she had left the apartment for her run. Jill, or at least Evie, would be up and about by the time she got back. Pushing her way through her front door she dumped her bags on the kitchen bench and caught herself casting her eyes around the space to make sure everything was where it should be, blood ties hadn't stopped her sister stealing from their parents, there was nothing stopping Jill doing the same to her, no matter how much that thought broke her heart, Miranda was right, she needed to look out for herself. The TV was playing children's cartoons and there was a half eaten bowl of lucky charms on the coffee table but apart from that everything was where it should be and she allowed herself to relax slightly.

"Mommy?" Andrea spun on her heel to see Evie wandering in from the bedroom, the little girl had obviously dressed herself that morning, the tiny shirt she had picked out to go with her jeans was buttoned up all wrong, Andrea tried to ignore how old and worn the clothes looked.

"Hey sweetheart."

"Is my mummy with you?" she asked, climbing up onto the sofa and settling into the cushions. Andrea's blood ran cold, surely Jill wouldn't, couldn't leave her daughter on her own in an unfamiliar apartment,

"No she isn't baby girl," Andrea toed off her trainers and curled into the sofa beside her niece, gratified when the little girl immediately shuffled closer and leaned in. She was glad, in a way, that trust was so easy to gain when they were this age and that she still had a chance to get to know the girl, she could have done with some of that innocent trust when she had first been getting to know the twins. "Did she say where she was going?"

"To buy milk." Andrea knew for a fact that there was more than enough milk in her fridge to keep them all going for at least the day, "Two spongebobs ago."

Andrea sighed and rubbed her forehead, so Jill had been gone for about an hour. Andrea would give her a little longer then she would come up with a plan or she would call Miranda, she would know what to do.

"I'm sure she'll be home soon sweety, how about me make some cookies while we wait?"

"Don't know how," Evie pouted and yet again Andrea's heart clenched, she and Jill had been baking with their mother since they were old enough to sit up on the bench beside her mixing bowl, what else had Evie missed out on while Jill moved from man to man and god knew what else? What kind of childhood had she really had?

"Well you are lucky, because I happen to be an expert and I would love to teach you."

* * *

After once again promising a movie night when they returned from their fathers Miranda kissed and hugged the girls and ushered them out to James' waiting car. Leaning against the door frame as she waved them out of the street she let out a big breath. She was exhausted, a night of very little sleep having caught up with her and even the short nap she had had with Andrea earlier had only been enough to get her through helping the twins to pack their things and dealing with their exuberance. Now that all of the tension that had kept her awake all night was gone she wanted nothing more than to curl up and sleep some more but she knew she had work to do before she could go and spend the evening with Andrea. She had attempted The Book the previous evening but had by no means given it her full attention and although it was the weekend and there was no real rush she wanted to get it out of the way so she could be available to support Andrea any way she would need. using her shoulder to push herself from her position she moved back into the house and straight up to her study, mind over matter.

Once she managed to focus The Book only took her an hour to review, most of her points from the previous night only needing some embellishing . Deciding that a coffee would help with the next part of the process, packing an overnight bag and making herself look presentable, she made her way downstairs only then remembering that her mobile was in the downstairs study where she had spoken to Andrea. She had a text from the girls to say that they had arrived safely and would call her tonight which made her smile, it was the messages from Andrea that made her frown.

Got home, Evie was here alone, says her mum has been gone for 2 spongebobs. A x

Still no sign, God Miranda what do I do? How can a person just abandon their child? x

"Miranda?" Andrea answered the phone on the first ring and the older woman was momentarily satisfied that some of the habits the brunette had learnt while working for her hadn't vanished all together, she despised listening to a dial tone.

"Has your sister turned up yet?" she asked pulling her over night bag from a closet on the way to the bedroom, coffee forgotten, Andrea sounded exhausted and stressed and her need to be their far outweighed her need for caffeine at this point.

"No of course she hasn't!" Andrea snapped and then sagged against the kitchen counter, "Sorry."

"It's ok darling, I'm packing a bag and I'll be there soon. How is Evie?"

"Having a nap. We made some cookies and did some drawing but I don't have all that much here to keep a three year old entertained. She's acting like this is normal."

"We don't know that it isn't." Miranda sighed, she was quite sure that Jill would turn up again eventually but she found it reprehensible that she had left her little girl to fend for herself in the first place. "Why don't you close you eyes while she's sleeping? I'll be there soon."

* * *

It was an hour before Miranda let herself quietly into Andrea's apartment laden down with bags. Knowing the that Andrea's apartment wasn't really a child friendly zone she had gone to the rarely visited third floor where the girls things from growing up were stored. She had selected several toys and a few of her girls favorite books as well as a few stuffed toys and some clothes that had barely been worn. She had no idea what kinds of things Evie had, if any, but with all of this at her disposal there was no reason why she couldn't make sure the girl had a comfortable stay while she was with them.

The brunette stirred on the sofa while Miranda was taking of her coat and the older woman watched as she stretched cat like and smiled, she truly was a breath taking sight.

"Hi," pushing herself up Andrea wandered over and pressed a kiss to Miranda's cheek in greeting

"Hello Andrea." Miranda smiled, brushing the bangs out of the young woman's eyes, "Feel better?"

"Mhm," Andrea hummed, trailing her eyes over the older woman, dressed down in jeans and an overlarge button down shirt, the clackers and the press would go into fits if they could see Miranda like this and Andrea was very pleased she had the privilege of seeing the other woman so relaxed and comfortable, "You look good."

"Yes well. It's a shame that you look to be wearing your running clothes from this morning with additional flour." Miranda quirked an eyebrow and pursed her lips minutely

"Yes well, I've had more pressing things to deal with since I got home, toddlers are hard work."

"Yes, I had two," Miranda smirked, slipping around the younger woman with her bags, "And I always managed to look Runway ready." Andrea rolled her eyes and followed the older woman into the apartment, Miranda Priestly could always do one better. "Why don't you go and have a shower while Evie is still sleeping?" In answer Andrea pressed a kiss to Miranda's cheek and grinned,

"I love you."

* * *

Miranda busied herself with straightening up the living room and kitchen while the brunette showered. The first time the younger woman had caught her pottering about the house she hadn't been able to keep the surprise from her face. When Miranda had asked her why it was so surprising and the younger woman had simply stated that it was a side of The Editor that she never expected to see. The truth was that yes, The Editor would not be seen dead tidying up around the office, she had people to do that for her after all, first and foremost, was a mother and despite having the means to pay for a Cara to look after the girls while she had to work, when she was home the house and the girls were something for her to take pride in, it hadn't taken long for Andrea's space to be drawn under that umbrella and helping to keep the space tidy came naturally to her.

While she was staking the dishwasher she heard bare feet on the wood floor and turned to see a little girl wandering out of Andrea's bedroom rubbing her eyes. She was taken aback by how much the little girl looked like she imagined Andrea had at that age except for the blue eyes.

"Who are you?" oh there was the Sachs spunk that Miranda had come to know and love, "Where's my aunt Andy?"

"She's in the shower sweetheart," Miranda bent down so she was at the little girls level and held out her hand, "I'm Miranda."


	9. Chapter 9

Sorry it's been so long since my last update, I've really been struggling with my inspiration and motivation to write anything recently. Happy Valentines Day you lovely lot x

* * *

When Andrea emerged from the bathroom forty five minutes later, her hair pulled into a messy bun and wearing a pair worn jeans and a tank top that could pass for clean, her was warmed by what she saw. Pausing in the doorway she watched her lover and her niece interact. Miranda was sat cross legged on the floor in front of the coffee table, Evie sat on her lap. Miranda had obviously brought some things with her because there was a stuffed horse tucked under the little girls arm that she hadn't seen before. The table was once again covered in art materials, things that Andrea wouldn't tell the older woman were a hangover from her time as her assistant when she was expected to do the twins homework, but Miranda had obviously brought a coloring book with her too because they appeared to be coloring couture.

"This one is really pretty," Evie said, her eyes lighting up at one of the dresses on the page and Miranda chuckled,

"You have very good taste my dear," she smiled, absently coloring a pair of shoes on the next page, "What color do you think it should be?"

Andrea often lamented missing out on the twins being that age because she had missed being there to watch them learn, she had never considered that she had missed out on a precious side of Miranda too. Anyone who knew Miranda, the public Miranda, would never guess a lot of things about the older woman but even Andrea hadn't considered how perfect she would look interacting with a toddler. She had never seen the older woman looking this relaxed with anyone except her girls and although Andrea had never planned on a baby of her own seeing Miranda here like this, bare foot and coloring on the floor made her long to share a child with the older woman.

"Your Aunt Andrea wore a dress very like this one once," Miranda said absently, watching the little girl color, she was very impressed with her eye for style and color,

"Really?"

"Let me see kiddo." Andrea pushed herself away from the wall and caught Miranda's eye with a smile before turning her attention back to the little girl and the picture she was holding. "Ah the Valentino, yes sweetheart but mine was black."

"Wow!" Andrea chuckled at Evie's wide eyes and dropped herself onto the floor beside them,

"Are we having fun?"

"Randa brought toys," she enthused, bouncing on the older woman's knee

"Did you say thank you?"

"Thank you Randa!" Evie twisted and threw her arms around the editors neck, hitting her on the back of the head with the horse that remained clutched in her hand as she pressed a messy kiss to her cheek.

"You're very welcome," Miranda chuckled, doing a very good job of not wincing at the rough treatment, "Why don't you and Charles continue coloring and your Aunt and I will fix a snack." Evie climbed happily down from Miranda's knee giving the two women the space to stand up and move towards the kitchen.

"Thank you for looking after her while I was busy," Andrea said snagging Miranda's hand and pulling her close, resting her arms on her shoulders, "You really are good with her."

"Like I said, I had two," Miranda smirked, "Anyway, she's an angel though she is very trusting."

"I shudder to think how many people Jill has marched through her life. Even in her teens she went through more boys than I did articles."

"Speaking of Jill, what are we going to do about your wayward sister?" Miranda stepped away and began rummaging in Andrea's fridge for a healthy snack for them all to share. The longer she spent with Evie the more she couldn't believe that Jill could just abandon her,

"Give her till tomorrow morning then call the Police? I don't know Miranda, what if she doesn't come back? What happens to Evie then?"

"Sweetheart," Miranda reached out for Andrea's hand and squeezed it lightly, "We'll do whatever we need to do to make sure that that little girl is safe," what Miranda didn't say was that if Jill did come back she would still be invested in making sure that Evie and the baby Jill was carrying were safe.

"I'm sorry our weekend hasn't turned out the way we planned," Andrea sighed

"Stop apologizing," Miranda chastised gently, returning to the circle of Andrea's arms and kissing her lightly, "There will be other weekends and at the moment there are more important things going on like getting to know your niece. Now come on, it's snack time, them Evie and myself are going to test you on what you learnt at Runway.

* * *

Miranda was pleased that the knock at the door had woken her and not Andrea. Evie had become antsy when it was time for bed, asking for her mummy and refusing to settle down. It had taken it out of the brunette to see the little girl so upset but now they were both sleeping soundly, almost nose to nose, and Miranda wanted it to stay that out of bed she closed the bedroom door behind her and pulled on a cardigan over her pyjamas before she answered the door. The truly pathetic creature on the other side of the door gave her pause. Even through the bruises there was no doubt that this was Andrea's sister and a small, very small, amount of pity tempered her anger.

"Who are you?" the girl muttered, shoving past Miranda and into the appartment and dropping herself onto the sofa. She really was a mess, her face bruised, lip split clothes grubby at best, going on the size of her she was around six months pregnant but Miranda could see that other than around her middle she was scarily thin.

"I'm your sisters partner and you and I need to have a little talk."

"To be honest I'm pretty tired." Jill said forcing a yawn, she couldn't deny that even in pyjamas with no make up and sleep tousled hair, Miranda Priestly was slightly terrifying,

"That's fine, this wont take long." Miranda stayed standing, her editors mask firmly in place, "Andrea means a great deal to me and people who hurt those whom I love reap the consequences. I know your track record Jill and if you even think of disappearing and taking anything of Andrea's with you I will find you."

"Is that a threat lady?"

"Simply a small piece of advice. Now I'm going back to bed, I suggest you get some sleep." Miranda paused at the door and added, "Evie's fine by the way, it's touching that you were so concerned that you forgot to ask"

"What's going on?" Andrea asked quietly when Miranda climbed back into bed, she shifted Evie gently so she was tucked closer to her body so she could pull the other woman closer, a definite down side to having her niece in bed with them was that she couldn't hold Miranda as close as she would like, especially after the uncertainty of the previous night,

"Nothing sweetheart, go back to sleep," Miranda smiled brushing the hair from the brunettes face, "Go back to sleep."

"I heard voices," Miranda could see that the younger woman was already half way back to sleep,

"Go to sleep," Miranda murmured again, continuing to stroke the younger woman's hair until her breathing evened and deepend in sleep. She knew Andrea needed to deal with Jill at some point but that time wasn't now, now they all needed to sleep, there would be time for talking tomorrow.


	10. Chapter 10

So naturally I've spent the whole summer with writers block and now that I'm back at work all I want to be doing is writing. I'm so sorry that it's been so long since I updated this story but I lost my way with it for a while, I'm hoping I've found my way again. Thank you all for your continued support despite the lack of updates, it means more than you know! As with all the others this update has not been beta'd and all mistakes are mine.

* * *

Miranda wasn't surprised when she woke to an empty bed. Andrea never slept well when she was under stress and what she remembered from when the twins were Evie's age children didn't tend to have any regard for weekend lie ins. Allowing herself a few minutes to fully wake up and stretch, she rolled out of bed and reached for one of Andrea's sweaters to pull on over her tank top, the apartment was unusually cold that morning. She resisted the urge to go to the bathroom and construct the days armour, her desire for Evie to be comfortable around her far outweighing her desire to intimidate Gill in that moment and followed the smell of coffee out into the main part of the apartment.

When they had first started dating Miranda had found the rooms that Andrea called home stifling. No bigger than the main offices at Runway and packed full of Andrea's things Miranda had barely been able to bare it, especially when the twins were there too. She hadn't always lived in townhouses with three floors and large, airy rooms, she hadn't always had the wealth that came with her current position but she also had no desire to return to the conditions of her early life in New York. She had avoided staying at Andrea's for a shamefully long time until one evening, curled into the corner of the younger woman's sofa looking over The Book, she had looked up from her work and instead of seeing only the opposite wall or the street outside the window, she had realised that she could see Andrea moving around the small kitchen as she made their dinner and the site warmed (and distracted) her momentarily, giving her the push she needed to finish her work so she could join the other woman. After that, the perks just kept on showing themselves.

Pausing in the bedroom doorway she watched with a gentle smile as Andrea and her niece talked quietly, Evie up on the bench beside Andrea's mixing bowl, Gil was still sprawled out on the sofa, looking even more pathetic than she had the previous evening and Miranda twitched the throw up over her on her way past to the kitchen.

"Morning." She said quietly, running her hand across Andrea's shoulder on her way to the coffee machine,

"Morning." Andrea gave her a gentle smile and reached out to squeeze her hand before turning back to the mixing bowl,

"Morning Randa," Evie grinned, kicking her legs slightly,

"Morning sweetheart," Miranda moved to stand in front of the little girl now she had secured her morning coffee and pressed a kiss to the girls cheek, "What are we making?"

"PANCAKES!" Evie giggled,

"Good, Saturday pancakes are very important," Miranda caught the little girl as she propelled herself into her while still managing to keep all of her coffee in the mug, "Can I help with anything?"

"No, everything is under control," Andrea leant over and pressed a kiss to her mouth, only pulling away when Evie began to giggle between them, "Something funny little one?"

"Is Randa your boyyfrrriieenndddd?" The little girl singsonged and Miranda couldn't suppress smile,

"Miranda can't be my boyfriend honey, she isn't a boy," Andrea said carefully, it had been so long since she had had to explai hers and Miranda's relationship to anyone that she hadn't really thought about the display of affection

"But mummy says you only kiss boyfriends who you like very much like that." Wrote said and the puzzled look on her face was too adorable for words and Miranda pressed a kiss to her little head, smiling brightly,

"Your mummy is partly right little one," she said, sensing that Andrea wasn't at all sure how to move forward with the conversation, "when she says that you only kiss people who you like very much like that and most women do only kiss men like that but then some women kiss other women like that and some men kiss other men like that it doesn't matter so long as you are happy. I love your aunt Andrea very much, she makes me very happy so I'm allowed to kiss her that way. Does that make sense?"

"I think so," Evie nodded after mulling the words over for a little while. "So I dint have to get a boyfriend? My mummy' s aren't very nice, I don't think I'd like one."

"Boyfriend, girl friend, you cab have whatever you want honey just as soon as you are old enough." Andrea grinned kissing her niece on the head, "now it's time to cook these, why don't you go and wake your mom up, see if she wants pancakes too." Evie slid down from the bench with a little help from Miranda and toddled off to the living room leaving the two women to share their proper good morning kiss.

"Hmmmm morning," Andrea sighed taking a few more moments to lean into the older woman before moving over to the stove to start cooking. "Do you know what one Jill came home last night?"

"After midnight, I seriously considered letting her sleep on the doorstep, in fact her condition was the only thing that saved her,"

"Why didn't yo wake me? You shouldn't be having to deal with this." Andrea sighed, she was surprised the door hadn't woken her up, she didn't feel like she'd had any sleep

"I knew you hadn't slept the night before last and I knew you probably wouldn't get much sleep last night. All I had to do was open the door for her."

"Still I wish you had woken me. I'm going to have too speak to her at some point. I just have to work out where to start."

* * *

There wasn't a chance for the adults to talk until that afternoon when, after a morning running around the park, Evie crashed out for an afternoon nap. Andrea came back from tucking the little girl up in her bed to find Miranda and her sister regarding each other across the living room. Miranda had managed to remain civil for the morning for Evie' s sake but it seemed that that time was over and the older woman was regarding her with the same thing veiled annoyance that her incompetent staff suffered on a daily basis.

"So are you going to tell me what possessed you to leave your child alone in a flat not knowing when or if I would be back?" Andrea asked, trying to keep her voice even as she moved to pitch on the arm of the armchair that Miranda had chosen

"I had to go to work," Gill shrugged "I couldn't exactly take her with me"

"Where does she usually go when you have to work?"

"One of the girls at the hostel takes her if they can otherwise she's fine on her own for a few hours as long as she has something to watch on Tv."

"Oh God," Andrea sighed rubbing her hand across her eyes "you do know that's illegal right? And yesterday was more than s few hours."

"What else could I do Andy? I need to work and you had gone out, I thought she'd be safe here until you got home." Andrea wanted to share her sister, how could a person think that leaving a child for even give minutes was ok turning to look at Miranda with playing eyes she found herself wishing that she had simply ignored the door two nights ago and continued getting ready for her date with the Priestly' s.

"While I don't for one moment agree with you leaving your child alone for even give minutes," Miranda began, taking Andrea's hand and giving it a squeeze, "what's done is done and can't be changed. I think what is more important at this point is what you plan to do next. Obviously you cannot return to the hostel since your boyfriend knows where you were nor can you sleep on Andrea's couch for long in your condition. Is there another hostel you can find a room at?" Miranda was ashamed to say she knew very little about the homeless women's shelters in the city except for the one which she donated money to every month.

"None of the others have rooms available, none of the ones I'd be happy to have my children staying in anyway. I tried them all before I came here, I really am sorry to have just landed like this Andy, I know I'm probably not high on the list of people you want to see."

"I won't pretend that I wasn't surprised to see you and that you haven't caused me trouble since you came back and that's without me calling mom and dad to let you know you are here." Andrea sighed, "but I won't deny that is good to know you are ok and to meet Evie but like Miranda says, what now? This apartment is barely big enough for me." Andrea watched her sister shift uncomfortably, her hand absently stroking over her belly, "and you have to admit, after the last time, the idea of helping you isn't exactly appealing, just disappearing like that after mom and dad had helped you with the baby."

"What?" Gill visibly tensed, her brow furrowed, "what do you mean just disappeared? Is that what they told you?"

"They came home from work one day and you were gone along with all of the baby stuff and any money that was left lying around. They were devastated."

"And you believe that? You actually think that if me?" Gill looked like she was about to cry and Andrea had to fight everything in her not to go to her.

"It wasn't like you didn't have form Gill, you'd disappeared without a word before, I had no reason not to believe them."

"Oh God." Gill looked like she might actually be sick now and Andrea did actually move to sit beside her on the sofa, "I knew they hated me but I never for one second thought they would try and turn you on me too. I think maybe we need to start at the beginning."

Miranda excused herself quietly to make coffee, she got the feeling it would be needed and also felt this might be a conversation that was best kept between sisters for the moment. Leaving two mugs of coffee between the two women she took her own and slipped quietly into the bedroom, pulling the door closed behind herself.


	11. Chapter 11

Again sorry it's been so long between posts, I'm back at work after a long summer off and I always forget how exhausting the first few weeks of term are. I hope this is ok, I know this is very short but I really just wanted to give you guys something. I already have at least the next chapter blocked out I just need to find the time and the inclination to sit down and write it.

Thanks again for all of the support, it means the world. L x

* * *

Mindful of the fact that Evie was still sleeping in Andrea's bed, Miranda pulled her laptop from her bag, content to check her emails while the sisters talked. A more than small part of her wanted to be beside her partner, her usually correct instinct telling her that whatever was about to come out wasn't going to be pleasant, but also knowing that Gill was more likely to open up fully without a perfect stranger sat in the room.

She had only just finished her first sweep of her inbox, dealing with the things she deemed urgent, when she heard Evie stir. Closing her laptop and pushing it back into her bag she moved to sit on the edge of the bed, running her fingers through the little girls hair.

"Hi 'Randa," she smiled, rubbing lightly at her eyes,

"Hello sweetheart. Did you enjoy your nap?"

"Yuhuh, but now I'm hungry," the little girl sighed, rubbing her tummy, "I have a snack?"

"Well, your mummy and your Aunt Andrea are having a very important conversation so we can't go out there and make something but will we see if my daughters have left a bar of chocolate in my bag?" Miranda knew that there would be some sort of sweet confection tucked into a hidden pocket of her bag. The girls had been leaving them for her since Andrea had walked away in Paris, knowing that during that time she never really remembered to eat during the day, it was their way of looking after her and it hadn't stopped even after Andrea's return to their lives.

"You have daughters?!" Evie knelt up on the edge of the bed and watched the older woman rummage, her eyes excited at the news, it had been a long time since she had had any other children to play with, except for Duncan but he was mean and liked to pull her hair when no one was looking.

"I do," Miranda nodded pulling a packet of M&amp;M's from the back pocket of her laptop bag and returning to sit next to the little girl, "Caroline and Cassidy, they are twins."

"What's twins?"

"Well," Miranda began, splitting open the bag of chocolate and placing it on the bed between them, picking up a blue one and popping it into her mouth, "When I was pregnant like your mummy is now, instead of just having one baby inside me, there were two, Caroline and Cassidy were born on the same day, only a few minutes apart and they look very similar, not many people can tell the difference between them."

"Wow, that sounds cool. Can I see a piture?" Miranda watched with amusement as Evie sorted the sweets into groups of the same colour, just as she had watched Andrea do on several occasions. Leaning over she pulled her laptop back from her bag and flipped it open, waiting for it to load up before turning the screen towards the little girl. The background was a picture of the four of them together at the girls last birthday, the girls were both grinning, high on sugar and the excitement of their surprise party, Andrea was smiling down at both of them and Miranda was regarding the whole scene with nothing but love in her eyes, it was one of her favourites.

"This is Cassidy," she said pointing to her oldest, "And this is Caroline. This was taken on their thirteenth birthday."

"Why can't people tell they are different?" Evie asked after she had scrutinised the picture for a few moments, "Cassidy's got lots more freckles like me." The door opened quietly then and Gill pushed her way into the room, Miranda met her eyes, and the pain in eyes so similar to Andrea's made her breath catch.

"Everything ok?" she asked gently, slipping the laptop back onto the floor and pushing herself to her feet,

"You should go speak to Andy, Evie and I will keep ourselves entertained wont we sweetheart?"

"Can we watch a movie?"

"My daughter's Netflix account is logged in on my laptop, you're bound to find something you can both enjoy on there." Miranda said as she passed the young woman and squeezed her shoulder lightly, "Are you ok?" she murmured so that only Gill could hear, she found that she felt protective of this girl whom Andrea obviously loved despite what had happened in the past.

"I'm fine," Gill answered and her voice only cracked a little, "Go to her please, and tell her I'm sorry."

With a frown Miranda pushed her way through into the main part of the flat, pulling the bedroom door closed behind her. She didn't see Andrea immediately, it wasn't until she had stepped further into the room that she spotted her in the kitchen. The brunette was leant heavily over the sink, the thick curtain of her hair obscuring her face from Miranda's view. Her posture was tense and Miranda quietly drifted closer as she took in the scene. As she stepped into the kitchen properly she spotted Andrea's favourite coffee mug shattered on the floor, a slightly bloody footprint showing Andrea's path to the sink where she seemed to have stuck.

"Andrea?" she said gently, running a soothing hand across her partners shoulder, "Darling, are you ok?"


	12. Chapter 12

I'm back! I finally got my laptop to the shop to have the keyboard fixed (about 50% of my keyboard had stopped working) and it's back with a fully functioning set of keys. That means it makes it easier to type stuff that I'm not 100% happy with.

I've rewritten this part several times since I last updated and I haven't been 100% thrilled with any of them, I wrote this in two hours tonight because I just wanted to get something out for you guys.

As usual, thank you for your continued support, your favs, follows and reviews. I hope you guys enjoy this part more than I do and hopefully I'll be able to get more out soon.

* * *

"Fine." Andrea said quietly, but Miranda could hear in her voice that things couldn't be farther from the truth but if that was how the brunette wanted to play it then that was fine, for now. Instead she busied herself clearing a spot on the bench and pulling the first aid kit from its place by the washing machine before turning her attention back to the younger woman.

"Hop up here for me darling," she said lightly, patting the bench and smiling slightly at Andrea's confused look, "You've cut yourself; I want to have a look."

"Oh," Andrea cast her eyes to the broken mug and hopped up onto the bench with a sigh, "I really liked that mug,"

"We'll get you a new one," Miranda chuckled lightly, taking hold of her heel in one hand, "Want to talk about it?"

"They, my mom, kicked her out," Andrea said, wincing as Miranda pressed antiseptic to the cut, "I spoke to my mom on the phone, she couldn't deny it. Gill got mixed up in some stuff and instead of helping her they told her to leave, when Evie was born they told her that she had to sign custody over to them and leave so she walked back out before they could take her daughter. They told me lies and made me distrust my own sister Miranda, what kind of parents do that?"

"Parents who are trying to protect their children," Miranda began carefully, "I'm not supporting what they did sweetheart but maybe it's that simple, you were at college, maybe they didn't want you to worry or make you think you had to go back home?"

"What about Gill, how was kicking her out protecting her?" Miranda could tell the younger woman was frustrated and it was rare that she didn't know what to say but in this situation she was clueless. She couldn't begin to imagine kicking Cassidy or Caroline out of their home, where they were safe, no matter what they got themselves into and she knew that she would be as upset as Andrea if she ever found out that her parents had done the same to her but she had no idea how she would deal with those feelings. Pressing a band aid to the small cut she allowed Andrea's foot to fall back to its natural place and tapped her knees apart, stepping between them and looping her arms loosely around her neck.

"I can't even begin to answer that darling." She said, pressing a kiss to her cheek, "But you can fix it. Gill and Evie are here now. Your new niece of nephew can't be very far away. You have the opportunity to make up for the last few years. As for your parents, I imagine they will understand if you don't want to speak to them for a while."

"You're perfect, you know." Andrea gave a small smile, dropping her head onto Miranda's shoulder and inhaling deeply, "Thank you for the perspective."

* * *

"Hey guys," Andrea stuck her head round the bedroom door and smiled at her sister and her niece curled up together in the middle of the bed, Miranda's laptop wedged between them, "We were thinking about ordering pizza anyone up for it?"

"Meeeee!" Evie said with a grin and Andrea chuckled,

"Thought you might, why don't you go and tell Miranda what kind you like?" the little girl bounded off the bed and into the living room, leaving the sisters alone,

"You ok?" Gill asked, straightening up with a groan

"I am," Andrea nodded and snagged her sisters hand as she got closer, pulling her into a tight embrace, "Miranda gave me some perspective. It's really good to see you."

"It's good to see you too, now, did you mention pizza, because this little one is starving!"

"Ha, come on, Miranda is ordering and if we leave her alone too long we'll get some healthy goats cheese and spinach monstrosity and I don't know about you but I want processed meat and cheese!"

"I heard that." Miranda said with a scowl, her face changing to a smile when Evie climbed up onto her lap and cuddled into her, it was impossible not to melt around the little girl and she was given some idea of what Andrea might have been like as a little girl, right down to the big brown eyes and the brunette curls. "Gill what would you like, contrary to the press' opinion and clearly that of your sister I'm not a total monster, I can imagine you are probably far enough along in your pregnancy to be having pretty strong cravings?"

"Like you wouldn't believe," Gill nodded, curling into the corner of the sofa and attempting to get comfortable, "Bacon, I really want bacon and Jarlsberg."

"I think we can work with that," Miranda moved her eyes back to her ipad making her selections then turned her face to Andrea, "Darling?" she drawled,

"Chicken, peppers oh and mushrooms..."

"With extra cheese?" Gill interrupted, "Some things never change, she's been ordering that for as long as I can remember. Do you still eat it crust first too."

"Gilllll," Andrea wined, fixing her eyes on Miranda who was smirking from behind her ipad, "And you, not a word."

"I'm sure I have no idea what you are talking about." Miranda's smirk only deepened as she shot a look at Gill who smirked in return, "Food should be here in forty minutes."

* * *

"So you pretty much know everything that is going on in my life recently." Gill said, gesturing to her face, her stomach then her daughter, "But I know literally nothing about what's been going on with you so come on, catch me up and start with Miranda."

"Well it was pretty boring really," Andrea chuckled, squeezing the arm around her waist, "We worked together, then we didn't, but we stayed in touch and it grew from there."

"Or as Page6 would tell it, Andrea melted the ice queen, she's only in it for my money and I'm having a mid life crisis."

"Wait, you're famous?"

"See!" Andrea wooped, turning slightly to prod Miranda in the arm, "I'm not the only person in the whole of New York who doesn't know who Miranda Priestly is. Miranda is the editor in chief of Runway Magazine. She's a pretty big deal in the world of fashion."

"A pretty big deal?" Miranda said haughtily, "Darling I am the world of fashion."


	13. Chapter 13

Oh dear, it's been a while, so long in fact that I'm ashamed to check the date I last updated this because I'm ashamed by how long it's been. Real life has been crazy lately and I've been focusing on a new job and planning a wedding, I've also been writing a lot of original stuff but I found myself wanting to write something I could share again. I went back and read through all of my WIPs before looking for prompts and I imediatley started getting ideas.

All mistakes are my own, this is not beta'd and I haven't done the sensible thing of leaving it a few hours and coming back to check it over, I'm just posting it.

I hope you enjoy and while I can't promise it will be tomorrow, next week or even next month, I can promise to try and write some more of this eventually.

* * *

By the time Miranda's phone rang it was getting late and the atmosphere in Andrea's small apartment was relaxed and warm. Evie had spent the evening hoping from the knee of one adult to the next, Charles never far from her side and the adults were chatting happily, the two sisters catching up on each others lives while Miranda was happy to just listen.

"Bobbsey?" she said, the phone held to her ear with one hand while the other ran through Evie's hair, the little girl starting to drift off in her lap.

"Mom, we're home, did you go into the office?" Caroline asked and Miranda's eyes found the clock, surprised it had gotten so late.

"No Bobbsey, I'm with Andrea, sorry I lost track of time. Why don't I call Roy and get him to bring you over?"

"I've got homework to do, don't bother." Caroline snapped before hanging up and leaving Miranda staring, surprised, at her cell.

"Everything ok?" Andrea asked, moving her hand from the back of the sofa to lightly massage the back of the Editor's neck,

"My daughter just hung up on me," she frowned, "They are back from their fathers."

"Ok, cool, are they coming over?"

"No."

"No?" Andrea turned to Miranda with a frown,

"No," Miranda sighed, "Caroline..."

"Is still upset with me," Andrea sighed and rubbed at her face, "Well damn,"

"She'll come round," Miranda supplied lightly, "But I should probably get home, I promised them a movie or two tonight."

"I don't mind if you want to go, me and the munchkin can look after ourselves for the night," Gill offered, "No honestly, I'm not going anywhere," she added when Andrea fixed her with a raised eyebrow.

"That's difficult to believe after yesterday," Andrea said carefully, "Plus I have an article to finish for the morning."

"Why don't you all come for dinner at the townhouse tomorrow?" Miranda suggested beginning to try and coax Evie off her lap so she could stand. In reality she knew that it was better for her to go home alone and clear the air with the girls but it also hadn't been the weekend she had planned for herself and Andrea and she wanted nothing more than to take the brunette to bed, a locked door between them and the rest of the world.

"I have a shift at the bar tomorrow night, I was going to ask if you could watch Evie, Andy?" Gill supplied, rubbing her hand absently over her stomach, grimacing as the baby kicked her bladder,

"You're not going back to that job." Miranda stated, giving up on getting Evie to move and standing up, taking the little girl with her,

"Miranda I..."

"No," Miranda cut her off with a gentle smile, "A bar is no place for a pregnant woman, it's also no job to have when you have a three year old to look after."

"I'm not qualified to do anything else, trust me, I've tried," Gill sighed, "And I can't bring up two children with no money."

"Don't worry about it for now, just quit your job and I'll see you and this little one tomorrow night." Miranda lowered the little girl carefully into her mothers arms before straightening and heading to the bedroom to pack her bags and call her car.

"Is she for real?" Gill whispered once the older woman was out of ear shot, "I can't quit my job and who is she to tell me what to do with my life?"

"She's Miranda Priestly, she's practically your sister in law and she cares," Andrea offered, "And I can tell by the look on her face that she has a plan. She's right about the job too."

Andrea pushed herself to her feet when Miranda emerged from the bedroom and pried her over night bag out of her hand.

"Let me walk you out." She smiled, grabbing her keys from the coffee table and shooting a smile at her sister, "I wont be long."

"I'm sorry about this weekend." She said quietly while they waited for the lift, resting her head against the older woman's shoulder,

"I'm sorry that I jumped to conclusions," Miranda offered a small smile as they stepped into to the lift, pulling the younger woman so their bodies were flush together, "We'll make up for it soon, maybe go away for the weekend so there's no way our plans can be disrupted."

"Oh I like the sound of that," Andrea grinned, leaning down to kiss Miranda long and lazily, pleased that she lived on the top floor of her block and that the lift had seen better days and seemed to move at a glacial pace.

* * *

"Wow." Gill said, looking up at the townhouse from the front street and smoothing out the imaginary creases in her borrowed shirt, "This place is huge,"

"Come on," Andrea smirked, repositioning Evie and Charles on her hip so she could fish her key out of her pocket, "You aint seen nothing yet." Andrea watched the wonder on her sisters face as she opened the front door and ushered her into the hall.

"Randa!" Evie called the minute she caught sight of the older woman descending the stairs and Andrea lowered her to the ground so she could go to the woman, unsurprised when Miranda swept her up and balanced her on her own hip.

"Hello everyone," the Editor said, kissing Gill on the cheek before moving to Andrea where she lingered a little longer, "Have we all had good days?"

"I coloured another dress," Evie said proudly, "and me and Charles went on an adventure," the chattering petered out as the pair wandered along the hall in the direction of the kitchen and Andrea tugged on Gill's arm to get her to follow."

"Fair warning, the twins can be a little tricky sometimes and I'm still in the bad books with at least Caroline so I'm sorry if this all goes horribly wrong," she said quietly, hoping against hope that the girls would accept her apology and the family that they hadn't even known she had. Both girls were already in the kitchen, their homework spread out on the breakfast bar and Andrea tried not to wince at the glare Caroline shot in her direction before turning back to her work. The eldest twin had been the most resistant to her presence in the families life but Andrea had thought she had won her round, they shared a lot in common and Caroline had shared her writing with the brunette, something which she knew that Miranda was extremely jealous of. She also knew however that Caroline was the most like her mother when it came to her temper but without the years of experience in refining it and made worse by teenage hormones, she only hoped that winning her back round wouldn't be as tricky as it had been the first time.

"Girls, this is Andrea's niece Evie and her sister Gill." Miranda announced and Gill gave an awkward wave while Evie just grinned, "These are my daughters..."

"Cassidy," Evie interrupted when the older woman gestured towards her youngest and the girl in question grinned,

"That's right kiddo, how could you tell? Mom and your Aunt Andy are the only ones who never get us mixed up."

"You've got more freckles, like me," Evie grinned in triumph and turned to Caroline who, while still scowling, had pulled her attention away from her homework and was watching the interaction with some interest, "And Caroline has eyes like Randa, like the ocean! Cassidy's are dark, like, like, nigh time." Andrea sagged in relief when Caroline smiled at that and ushered her sister into a seat before taking one of her own.

"Hey, is that Charles?" Caroline asked and Andrea tensed up again, for all they were twins, neither girl was particularly good at sharing, mostly because Miranda had always been able to provide one of everything, it was a trait Andrea was trying to instil in them but it was a work in progress and Caroline again was the more stubborn of the two, the stuffed horse had been stored up on the third floor since the girls had decided that they were too old for stuffed toys but she worried that Caroline's possessive nature was about to rear its ugly head.

"This?" Evie asked, wriggling to get down and waving the stuffed horse around her head, "Is Charles, how did you know his name?"

"He used to be mine when I was little," Caroline said and Andrea was pleased that there didn't seem to be any hostility in her voice.

"Oh," Evie frowned, scrunching up her face in thought before moving to stand in front of the red head, holding the toy out to her, "I'm sorry, I didn't know, here." Caroline took the toy and looked slowly between the plush face and the little girl stood in front of her looking crestfallen and cocked an eyebrow.

"What's that Charles?" she said, holding the animal to her ear and nodding along, "I see, Hey Evie," she grinned, turning the animal back around so that he was facing the girls and bumping his nose against hers, "Charles tells me you looked after him really, really well and he wants to know if you'd like to keep looking after him."

"Really?" Evie's eyes blew wide and all of the adults in the room breathed a collective sigh of relief, "But he's yours, don't you want to keep him?"

"I do," Caroline nodded, "But I don't have enough time to look after him and he told me you took him to the park yesterday? He really loves the park."

"Me too!"

"So I would love for you to look after him as long as I can visit sometimes?"

"Yeah!" Evie called, throwing her arms out and diving face first into Caroline's lap, wrapping her tiny arms as far around her waist as she could fit.

"Thank god," Andrea muttered, leaning against the back of Andrea's chair and ghosting her fingers over the brunettes shoulder, "I thought we were going to have two tantrums on our hands."

"Crisis averted," Andrea chuckled, leaning back into the contact, "Though I don't think I'm out of the woods just yet, if looks could kill, I'd have keeled over the minute I stepped in here."


	14. Chapter 14

So here it is, the next installment, thanks for all of the favs, follows and reviews, they are honestly the only thing that keeps me writing sometimes. I can pretty much guarantee that there wont be another update for the next few weeks but once myself and my partner are married I'm hoping I'll have more time for writing instead of spending all of my free time on wedding planning and wedding DIY!

* * *

"Caroline, can I have a minute?" Andrea asked, sticking her head round the door to the girls study after dinner. The meal itself had been pleasant enough but Caroline had excused herself to do homework the moment the desert dishes were cleared and Andrea knew the longer she left it the harder it would be to get through to the girl. Her relationship with the twins had been hard won but Caroline had been particularly difficult, she was so like her mother in so many ways but without the benefit of age to temper her worst qualities, she had also been the one most obviously affected by Miranda's past broken relationships and Andrea knew that, because of what happened on Friday night, she would have to rebuild her trust with the girl probably from the very bottom up.

"I'm busy doing homework," she replied without even looking up and Andrea sighed and made her way around the desk, perching on the edge by the girls elbow, "What?!" she snapped, throwing down her pen and crossing her arms in a way that screamed Miranda.

"Look," Andrea began quietly, "I'm sorry about Friday night, you know how much I wanted to see that show with you guys but sometimes life gets in the way of what you want to do and that's what happened. I'm sorry about that but there isn't anything I can do now to change it."

"Mum and Cass think you're so different from all the others but I see it Andrea, you're just like them, all of them, you'll get bored of us eventually, especially now you have a new family." Andrea was at a loss for words and forced herself to take a deep, steadying breath before trying to move forward. Caroline was right on one hand, Miranda did think she was different from the others but where Caroline had miss stepped was where it came to _her_ feelings. Hers and Miranda's relationship may have been relatively new in the eyes of her daughters and of the press but to Andrea it was something that had been building since the very first day they met. She hadn't seen it at the time, hadn't acknowledged it when she walked out in Paris but with hindsight, knowing how Miranda felt, admitting to herself how she felt, it became screamingly obvious. Miranda hadn't taken much persuading that what they had was for keeps because she could feel it too, but the girls, let down by too many adults in their lives, couldn't see it, especially Caroline. It hurt her that Caroline still didn't seem to trust her word even though she had never given her any reason not to, but she had also learnt from a lot of experience with the Priestly women when to advance and when to retreat and in the case she recognised the need for more time. With another deep breath she smiled sadly at the girl who was still scowling at her and stood, shaking her head lightly before heading back towards the door.

"I love you guys," she said carefully when she reached the doorway, not bothering to turn round, "And I'm not sure what else I need to do to prove that to you, but your disbelief isn't going to make the fact any less true." Pulling the door closed as she left she rubbed at her eyes and tried to banish the tears that had built there, tried not to be hurt by a girl who had been hurt before and was trying to protect herself from being hurt again. Her eyes still burning she made her way part way down the back stairs and dropped herself down onto a step, dropping her head into her hands, pulling her hair at the roots to try and dispel some of the tension pushing behind her eyes.

All she wanted was Miranda behind a locked door, not so they could sleep together but just so she could let herself go and fall apart knowing that Miranda would be there to catch her. She still hadn't allowed herself to feel everything that Gill's reappearance and the truths she had learnt brought, but with Caroline's obvious anger and rejection added to the mix she could feel all of it simmering just below the surface just waiting to escape and she didn't want to fall without Miranda there to catch her.

* * *

"Someone looks like they are getting tired," Miranda said, gesturing to where Evie was sat leant against Cassidy, the older girl practically holding her up, Gill followed her eyes and smiled,

"It's past her bedtime, we should get back to Andy's," she said, beginning to stretch the kinks out of her back, even though Miranda's sofa was ten times more comfortable than anything she had sat on for a long time she'd still been sat in one place for too long and everything was beginning to seize up.

"Nonsense," Miranda leant over and patted her arm and Gill got the impression that she was about to be told what to do by Miranda Priestly, again, "I had a guest room made up for you."

"There's no need, honestly Miranda, we can go back to Andy's and she can stay here with you."

"You're better off just doing what she says," Cassidy piped up from the floor, "She'll wear you down in the end."

"As much as the phrasing leaves a lot to be desired my daughter is right, I insist," Miranda smirked, "Cassidy sweetheart, could you show Gill and Evie where there room is, then I want you to finish your homework before bed. Gill there are fresh towels in the en suite and a selection of toiletries, there's also some clothes for you both to sleep in on the bed. Please make yourselves at home."

"Thank you Miranda honestly, I don't know what to say."

"Then say nothing, go tuck your daughter in and then treat yourself to a nice warm bath, I'm going to go and make sure your sister and my daughter haven't killed each other." She waited until the other occupants of the room had filed out before standing herself and picking up the glasses which had been left scattered about before heading for the kitchen. She was worried about Andrea and Caroline, sure that if they had managed to make up they would have rejoined the others in the den, the fact she hadn't heard a peep out of either of them worried her. She was putting the last glass in the dishwasher when she heard the sniffle from the back stairs and frowned, closing the machine door, she straightened up and stuck her head round the corner only for her heart to break when she caught sight of Andrea sat with her head in her hands.

"Oh Darling," she murmured, taking the steps quickly until she was at the brunettes side and lowering herself down onto the step beside her, immediately pulling her into a hug, "What's going on?"

"My sisters in trouble, my parents have been lying to me for years and Caroline, well Caroline thinks I'm just as bad as Stephen, refuses to speak to me and thinks I'm just going to abandon you all now that Gill and Evie are around and honestly I think that's the thing that hurts the most." Andrea allowed herself to cry then, the comfort of Miranda's arm around her shoulder too much for her fragile emotions and she buried her face in the other woman's neck as she stroked her back and whispered soothing nonsense.

Both were blissfully unaware of the red head sat against the wall at the top of the stairs just out of site, her eyes red as she fiddled with the chain around her neck which was home to the tiny gold quill which Andrea had bought her for her birthday and wondered why she was always the one who was always upsetting everyone.


End file.
